Miami coach Jim Larrañaga eyes second Final Four, 16 years after George Mason breakthrough
CHICAGO — Miami's Jordan Miller said it was impossible not to feel the aura of one of the greatest underdog stories of all-time when he was playing at George Mason for the past three years.
Little did the junior guard know he'd eventually be playing for the former coach of that historic 2006 mid-major team that went all the way to the Final Four – except at a power conference program in the ACC.
"Being at George Mason, it's hard not to hear about his success there," said Miller, who took advantage of the NCAA's new transfer rules to leave George Mason for Miami (Fla.). He's now a key player for an upstart Hurricanes team that faces Kansas on Sunday in the Elite Eight (2:20 p.m. ET, CBS).
The appeal to leave Fairfax, Virginia, wasn't just about the warm weather and beaches for Miller. It was about the coach he saw cutting down nets in glorified photos at George Mason's EagleBank Arena. Jim Larrañaga became an instant celebrity when he piloted a lovable Patriots team to the Final Four and stayed for five seasons afterwards before leaving for his current job in 2011. But the last decade never fueled similar success at a more competitive level.
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The 72-year-old coach took the Hurricanes to the Sweet 16 in 2013 and 2016 but he didn't achieve the same type of breakthrough, as Miami suffered three consecutive losing seasons before reaching this NCAA Tournament as an at-large team that played its way off the bubble. It's the deepest March Madness run in the history of the football-rich school.
"I think my guys realize, this is not something that happens every day," Larrañaga said. "For Kansas it does, but not for Miami."
Now, Larrañaga is in position to buck the trend of mid-major-turned-power program coaches that haven't been able to replicate their Cinderella DNA at a bigger program with more resources at seemingly better recruiting pathways. Similar to George Mason, VCU reached the Final Four in 2011 and coach Shaka Smart waited four years before taking the Texas job in 2015. But Smart was on the flip side of bracket-busting several times – seeing the Longhorns get upset in the first round in 2016, 2018 and 2021 – before eventually leaving for a less pressurized job at Marquette.
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Larrañaga was on the wrong side of a magical run himself when Loyola-Chicago upset the Hurricanes as a No. 11 seed over a No. 6 seed during the program's storybook 2018 run. He said the last 10 seasons coaching in the ACC have given him an appreciation for the beauty of an unpredictable run in an anything-can-happen single-elimination NCAA Tournament. This year's Miami roster was relatively revamped because of the transfer portal and has a bracket-busting DNA of its own as a No. 10 seed that knocked off No. 2 Auburn in the second round.
"I think every trip to the NCAA Tournament is a special event for a (specific) team," Larrañaga said. "And it is for me. It's a different group of guys even if just two or three guys new are on your team. This year, half our team is new. So it's a special team to be able to enjoy it with them.
"The competition at this level, it's the highest level of Division I basketball. And to know you're one of eight teams in the entire country when there are 358 Division I schools who would love to be in this position, you feel very fortunate."
Of course, most elite coaches in the sport have to start somewhere and often capitalize off a deep run in the NCAAs at the mid-major level to take a job at another program for a big payday. Coach Bill Self, Larrañaga's opponent on Sunday in the Elite Eight, got Tulsa to the Elite Eight in 2000 and then got a better job at Illinois as a result before his storied success at KU.
Southern California's Andy Enfield, who got Florida Gulf Coast to the Sweet 16 in 2013, had to go seven seasons leading the Trojans before replicating similar success last year by getting USC to the Elite Eight. The Trojans got bounced as a No. 7 seed vs. Miami this year.
Former Gonzaga coach Dan Monson, on the other hand, left for Minnesota following the 'Zags' Elite Eight breakthrough in 1999 but never was able to experience similar success there in eight seasons or back at the mid-major level at Long Beach State where he's coached for the past 15 seasons. Shaheen Holloway, the coach for No. 15-seed Saint Peter's, is expected to be in line for the Seton Hall job — which would set up a similar trajectory.
"There's a reason March Madness is probably the best sporting event in the world," Larrañaga said. "That's a feeling that was easier to be associated with in 2006. And now a more grounded feeling in 2022."
Follow college basketball reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson